Semiconductor inductor

ABSTRACT

An inductor. A silicon substrate of a first conductive type is provided. A spiral conductive layer is formed over the silicon substrate. A doped region of a second conductive type is formed in the substrate below the spiral conductive layer. A doped region of the first conductive type is next formed in the substrate around the doped region of the second conductive type. A reverse-bias voltage is applied to the doped region of the first conductive type and the doped region of the second conductive type. The application of a reverse-bias voltage creates a depletion region beneath the doped region of the second conductive type and the space between the doped regions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to an inductor structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to a radio frequency (RF) semiconductor inductor with less substrate loss.

2. Description of Related Art

In general, an inductor is formed over a lossless substrate such as gallium arsenic substrate or a sapphire substrate which has a promising insulation effect to result in a low induced substrate current. Therefore, a high quality of the inductor can be obtained to enable an operation under a radio frequency (RF). However, since gallium arsenic substrate or sapphire crystal is expensive, a silicon substrate is typically used to reduce the cost. Using silicon technology to fabricate the inductor on a silicon substrate, though achieve a low cost fabrication, results in a higher consumption of energy. At present, methods to overcome the problem of high energy consumption by using silicon substrate have been developed. For example, the application of local substrate removal or slotted ground plane has been disclosed. However, these methods are not very practical and the effect is restricted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an inductor formed on a silicon substrate that can effectively reduce induced current in the substrate, thereby reducing substrate loss.

In addition, the invention provides an inductor that has a higher inductance and a lower resistance. In addition, the parasitic capacitance of the inductor can be minimized value while the resonance oscillation frequency of the inductor can be raised to an optimum value.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a semiconductor inductor. A silicon substrate of a first conductive type is provided. A spiral conductive layer is formed over the silicon substrate. The spiral conductive layer has multiple spiral turns with a terminal at each end. One end of the spiral conductive layer is connected to an input terminal while the other end is connected to an output terminal. The spiral conductive layer can be made of aluminum or copper. A doped region of a second conductive type is formed in the substrate under the substrate surface. A doped region of the first conductive type is next formed in the substrate surrounding the doped region of the second conductive type. The doped region of the first conductive type is separated from the doped region of the second conductive type with a space without directly in contact. A reverse bias is provided to electrically connect the doped region of the first conductive type and the doped region of the second conductive type. A depletion region is thus formed between the doped regions of the first and the second conductive types. A top view of the dope region of the second conductive region has a sheet shape, while the doped region of the first conductive type has a ring shape surrounding the doped region of the second conductive type.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1A is a schematic, top view showing an inductor according to a first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 1B is a schematic, cross-sectional view along line I—I in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A is a schematic, top view showing an inductor according to a second embodiment of this invention; and

FIG. 2B is a schematic, cross-sectional view along line II—II in FIG. 2A.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1A is a schematic, top view showing an inductor according to a first embodiment of this invention. FIG. 1B is a schematic, cross-sectional view along line I—I in FIG. 1A. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a substrate 10 such as a p-type or an n-type silicon substrate is provided. An insulation layer 12, preferably a silicon dioxide layer (SiO₂), is formed on the substrate 10. A spiral conductive layer 14, made of aluminum or copper material, is formed on the insulation layer 12. The spiral conductive layer 14 further includes a multiple spiral turns forming a spiral structure 14 a having a first end 14 b and a second end 14 c. The first end 14 b of the spiral structure 14 a is connected to an input terminal 16 via a lower conductive layer 20 and a lead part 14 d. The second end 14 c is connected to an output terminal 18 via another lead part 14 e. Alternatively, the first end 14 b is connected to the output terminal 18 via the lower conductive layer 20 and the lead part 14 d, and the first end 14 c is connected to the input terminal 16 via the lead part 14 e. The lower conductive layer 20 is formed within the insulation layer 12.

As shown in FIG. 1B, a implanted or doped region 22 is formed in the silicon substrate 10 in a surface region. Conductive type of the doped region 22 is opposite to that of the silicon substrate 10. For example, the doped region 22 can be a N⁺ doped region while a P-type substrate 10 is in use or a P⁺ doped region while an N-type substrate 10 is in used. A second doped region 24 having the same conductive type as the silicon substrate 10 such as a P⁺ doped region or an N⁺ doped region is formed in the substrate 10 surrounding the first doped region 22 under the exposed substrate surface. As denoted, the doping concentration of the first and the second doped regions 22 and 24 is higher than that of the silicon substrate 10. In addition, the second doped region 24 is separated from the first doped region 22 with a space. When viewed from the top, the first doped region 22 forms a sheet-like structure while the second doped region 24 forms a ring-like structure surrounding the first doped region 22. A reverse bias Vs is applied between the first doped region 22 and the second doped region 24. For example, a positive voltage is applied to the first doped region 22 and a negative voltage is applied to the second doped region 24. Or alternatively, the second doped region 24 is grounded as shown in FIG. 1B. The application of a reverse bias creates a depletion region 26 beneath the first doped region 22 and in the space between the doped regions 22 and 24. The portion of the depletion 26 under the first doped region 22 has a depth preferably between 0.5 to 18 μm. The depletion region 26 is of special importance in this invention because the depletion region 26 is an effective layer for shielding the spiral inductor 14 from the silicon substrate 10. Hence, induced current in the silicon substrate 10 is reduced and a smaller amount of energy is consumed.

Tables 1 to 4 are the results of simulating the inductor fabricated according to the first embodiment of this invention. The results are obtained using three-dimensional electromagnetic simulation software written by a U.S. company SONNET EM Corporation. The inductor is subjected to a range of operating frequencies with the depletion region 26 reaching a range of depths. Values of the resultant effective resistance Reff are also tabulated inside the tables. A smaller effective resistance Reff means that loss due to inductance inside the substrate is smaller and performance of the inductor is higher. It can be easily noted from the tables 1 to 4 that the thicker the depletion region 26, the smaller will be the value of the effective resistance Reff.

TABLE 1 Values of the effective resistance for a 0.15 nH inductor operating under various frequencies and depletion layer depths, wherein the spiral conductive layer of the inductor is made from an ideal lossless metal. 0.15 nH Inductor An Ideal Metal Frequency Depth of Depletion Region (μm) (GHz) 0 6 12 18 0.80 1.00 0.00152 (Ohm) 0.00099 (Ohm) 1.20 0.00313 (Ohm) 0.00284 (Ohm) 0.00199 (Ohm) 1.40 0.00601 (Ohm) 0.00429 (Ohm) 0.00332 (Ohm) 1.60 0.01051 (Ohm) 0.00777 (Ohm) 0.00559 (Ohm) 1.80 0.02408 (Ohm) 0.01279 (Ohm) 0.00950 (Ohm) 2.00 0.02288 (Ohm) 0.01805 (Ohm) 0.01371 (Ohm) 2.20 0.04019 (Ohm) 0.02991 (Ohm) 0.02200 (Ohm) 2.40 0.07068 (Ohm) 0.04907 (Ohm) 0.03937 (Ohm) 0.04019 (Ohm)

TABLE 2 Values of the effective resistance for an inductor operating under various frequencies and depletion layer depths, wherein the spiral conductive layer of the inductor is made from aluminum with a thickness of 0.6 μm. Aluminum/Thickness 0.6 μm Frequency Depth of Depletion Region (μm) (GHz) 0 6 12 18 0.80 0.33831 (Ohm) 0.33730 (Ohm) 0.33601 (Ohm) 0.33856 (Ohm) 1.00 0.35635 (Ohm) 0.35359 (Ohm) 0.36050 (Ohm) 0.35017 (Ohm) 1.20 0.37694 (Ohm) 0.37592 (Ohm) 0.39884 (Ohm) 0.37263 (Ohm) 1.40 0.41130 (Ohm) 0.41053 (Ohm) 0.40477 (Ohm) 0.40149 (Ohm) 1.60 0.45415 (Ohm) 0.44829 (Ohm) 0.44470 (Ohm) 0.43907 (Ohm) 1.80 0.51341 (Ohm) 0.50526 (Ohm) 0.50217 (Ohm) 0.49009 (Ohm) 2.00 0.59576 (Ohm) 0.56801 (Ohm) 0.55596 (Ohm) 0.55019 (Ohm) 2.20 0.69877 (Ohm) 0.66499 (Ohm) 0.65083 (Ohm) 0.63516 (Ohm) 2.40 0.84768 (Ohm) 0.79094 (Ohm) 0.76499 (Ohm) 0.74907 (Ohm)

TABLE 3 Values of the effective resistance for an inductor operating under various frequencies and depletion layer depths, wherein the spiral conductive layer of the inductor is made from copper with a thickness of 1.0 μm. Copper/Thickness 1.0 μm Frequency Depth of Depletion Region (μm) (GHz) 0 6 12 18 0.80 0.15666 (Ohm) 0.15765 (Ohm) 0.15685 (Ohm) 0.15775 (Ohm) 1.00 0.16536 (Ohm) 0.16698 (Ohm) 0.16995 (Ohm) 0.16489 (Ohm) 1.20 0.18074 (Ohm) 0.18015 (Ohm) 0.22573 (Ohm) 0.17710 (Ohm) 1.40 0.20117 (Ohm) 0.20204 (Ohm) 0.19686 (Ohm) 0.19399 (Ohm) 1.60 0.23744 (Ohm) 0.22319 (Ohm) 0.21961 (Ohm) 0.21560 (Ohm) 1.80 0.25898 (Ohm) 0.25778 (Ohm) 0.25233 (Ohm) 0.24473 (Ohm) 2.00 0.30700 (Ohm) 0.29425 (Ohm) 0.28405 (Ohm) 0.27862 (Ohm) 2.20 0.37467 (Ohm) 0.35231 (Ohm) 0.34243 (Ohm) 0.32657 (Ohm) 2.40 0.46110 (Ohm) 0.42882 (Ohm) 0.40530 (Ohm) 0.39166 (Ohm)

TABLE 4 Values of the effective resistance for an inductor operating under various frequencies and depletion layer depths, wherein the spiral conductive layer of the inductor is made from copper with a thickness of 2.0 μm. Copper/Thickness 2.0 μm Frequency Depth of Depletion Region (μm) (GHz) 0 6 12 18 0.80 0.10146 (Ohm) 0.10443 (Ohm) 0.10161 (Ohm) 0.10211 (Ohm) 1.00 0.10813 (Ohm) 0.11373 (Ohm) 0.11152 (Ohm) 0.10812 (Ohm) 1.20 0.12065 (Ohm) 0.13037 (Ohm) 0.17716 (Ohm) 0.11760 (Ohm) 1.40 0.13715 (Ohm) 0.14694 (Ohm) 0.13315 (Ohm) 0.13022 (Ohm) 1.60 0.16580 (Ohm) 0.16648 (Ohm) 0.14956 (Ohm) 0.14606 (Ohm) 1.80 0.18206 (Ohm) 0.19540 (Ohm) 0.17550 (Ohm) 0.16821 (Ohm) 2.00 0.22472 (Ohm) 0.23686 (Ohm) 0.19833 (Ohm) 0.19302 (Ohm) 2.20 0.28832 (Ohm) 0.28160 (Ohm) 0.24549 (Ohm) 0.22853 (Ohm) 2.40 0.34452 (Ohm) 0.35207 (Ohm) 0.29049 (Ohm) 0.27703 (Ohm)

FIG. 2A is a schematic, top view showing an inductor according to a second embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2B is a schematic, cross-sectional view along line II—II in FIG. 2A. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a substrate 30 such as a p-type silicon substrate is provided. An insulation layer 32, preferably a silicon dioxide layer, is formed over the substrate 30. A spiral conductive layer 34, made of aluminum or copper material, is formed over the insulation layer 32. The spiral conductive layer 34 further includes multiple spiral turns forming a spiral structure 34 a having a first end 34 b and a second end 34 c. The first end 34 b of the spiral structure 34 a is connected to an input terminal 36 via a lower conductive layer 40 and a lead part 34 d. The second end 34 c is connected to an output terminal 38 via another lead part 34 e. Alternatively, the first end 34 b is connected to the output terminal 38, and the first end 34 c is connected to the input terminal 36. The lower conductive layer 40 is formed within the insulation layer 32.

As shown in FIG. 2B, a doped layer 42 such as a P+doped region is formed in the substrate under the exposed substrate surface below the spiral conductive layer 34 by an ion implantation. The conductive type of the doped layer 42 is identical to the silicon substrate 30, but doping concentration in the doped region 42 is higher than that in the silicon substrate 30. The doped layer 42 preferably has a doping concentration of about 5×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³ and a depth of a few micrometers. The object of having a doped layer 42 is to isolate the spiral inductor 34 from the silicon substrate 30 so that induced current in the substrate 30 and hence the amount of energy wasted in operation is reduced. For example, if the doped layer 42 has a depth about 2.0 μm, effective resistance Reff is roughly equivalent to having a depletion layer of thickness 6.0 μm in the first embodiment. Table 5 is the results of simulating the inductor fabricated according to the second embodiment of this invention.

TABLE 5 Values of the effective resistance for a 0.15 nH inductor operating under various frequencies and depletion layer depths, wherein the spiral conductive layer of the inductor is made from copper with a thickness of 2.0 μm. 0.15 nH inductor Copper/Thickness 2.0 m Depth of doped layer 2.0 m Frequency (GHz) Transinductance 5e4S/m 0.80 0.10443 (Ohm) 1.00 0.11373 (Ohm) 1.20 0.13037 (Ohm) 1.40 0.14694 (Ohm) 1.60 0.16648 (Ohm) 1.80 0.19540 (Ohm) 2.00 0.23686 (Ohm) 2.20 0.28160 (Ohm) 2.40 0.35207 (Ohm)

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor inductor capable of reducing energy loss through an underlying substrate, comprising: a substrate of a first conductive type; a spiral conductive layer formed over the substrate, wherein the spiral conductive layer has a plurality of spiral turns with a first end and a second end such that the first end is connected to an input terminal while the second end is connected to an output terminal; a doped region of a second conductive type in the substrate near a surface of the substrate under the spiral conductive layer; a doped region of the first conductive type in the substrate, wherein the doped region of the first conductive type surrounds but separates from the doped region of the second conductive type with a space.
 2. The inductor of claim 1, wherein the material for forming the substrate includes silicon.
 3. The inductor of claim 1, wherein an additional insulation layer is formed between the substrate and the spiral conductive layer.
 4. The inductor of claim 3, wherein the material for forming the insulation layer includes silicon dioxide.
 5. The inductor of claim 1, wherein the material for forming the spiral conductive layer includes aluminum.
 6. The inductor of claim 1, wherein the material for forming the spiral conductive layer includes copper.
 7. The inductor of claim 1, wherein depth of the depletion region below the doped region of the second conductive type is about 0.5 to 18 μm.
 8. The inductor of claim 1, wherein the first conductive type substrate is a P⁻ substrate, the doped region of the second conductive type is a N+region and the doped region of the first conductive type is a P⁺ region.
 9. The inductor of claim 1, wherein the doped region of the second type forms a sheet-like structure just below the exposed surface of the substrate.
 10. The inductor of claim 1, wherein the doped region of the first type forms a ring-like structure around the doped region of the second conductive type.
 11. An inductor capable of reducing energy loss through an underlying substrate, comprising: a substrate of a first conductive type; a spiral conductive layer formed over the substrate, wherein the spiral conductive layer has a plurality of spiral turns with a first end and a second end such that the first end is connected to an input terminal while the second end is connected to an output terminal; and a doped layer of the first conductive type under an exposed substrate surface below the spiral conductive layer, wherein concentration of dopants in the doped layer is higher than the concentration of dopants in the substrate.
 12. The inductor of claim 11, wherein the material for forming the substrate includes silicon.
 13. The inductor of claim 11, wherein an additional insulation layer is formed between the substrate and the spiral conductive layer.
 14. The inductor of claim 13, wherein the material for forming the insulation layer includes silicon dioxide.
 15. The inductor of claim 11, wherein the material for forming the spiral conductive layer includes aluminum.
 16. The inductor of claim 11, wherein the material for forming the spiral conductive layer includes copper.
 17. The inductor of claim 11, wherein the doped layer in the substrate has a thickness of about a few micrometers (μm).
 18. The inductor of claim 11, wherein the doped layer has a dopant concentration of about 5×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³.
 19. The inductor of claim 11, wherein the first conductive type substrate is a P⁻ substrate while the doped layer of the first conductive type is a P⁺ region. 